Today is the day of the announcement of the first sermon of the Buddha (Sengha Day) and the Buddhist Lent Day at our local temple Wat Greensboro.
The Buddhist Lent Day is also known as Kao Punsa, which is the annual three-month Rains Retreat known in Laos and Thailand as Punsa. This dated back to the early Buddhism in ancient India, it is the time where monks spent three months of the annual rainy season in permanent dwellings to avoid unnecessary traveling during the period when crops were still new for fear that they might accidentally step on young plants. It is also considered inauspicious to get married or move house during the Lent period, and after the end of the Lent period then the calendar is open for weddings.
I checked the setup on my camera yesterday and didn’t realize that I was shooting on a medium quality of 8M instead of the 18M that my camera has to offer. I can’t remember when I made this change, but I recalled that I was low on memory and decided to change the setup so I could get more shots. I could have kicked myself for not changing it back right away.
Lee and my sister hung monies on the money tree.
Alms giving.
The tradition of offering candles to the temple.
Water blessing
As I have mentioned before that we received a permit from the city to expand our temple. The construction is coming along slowly due to the financial situation. The contractor want a lot more than what the temple has, just the bathroom alone they want $100,000. I have to say that at this price you could build a whole house. They agreed to give a 30% discount if the temple would do some of the work themselves, which is something that the temple plan to do to cut cost.
The donated bricks are nicely stacked in the background.
The next event at Wat Greensboro is Sunday, August 14, 2011. It’s the Phapa Presentation or Pakaprak Day, which is the day of presentation of the forest robe to the monks and also giving donation to support the temple. There will be live band and the event is free, hope you could come if you are in the area.
There were few vendors since this is not one of the big events such as Songkran Day or Kathin Ceremony.
Fried Banana is Lee’s favorite snack.
There are rows and rows of persimmon trees.
I will add exif data when I have more time.
Nye Noona 
Wow!!! 100K for bathroom? I think the temple committee needs to have another round of bidding. Am I safe to assume that the temple committee already building plans approved by the City? Maybe the contractor price included building plans with structural engineer stamp, inspection fee, permits, and cost to build it?
Hi seeharhed, everything is approved from the city, that took a long time to get things approved also. Since the financial is the situation, the temple plan to build the bathroom first then the kitchen and worship hall later. The plan is for 2 female stalls and shower area, and 2 male stalls and shower area for those that want to stay at the temple for meditation retreat. It’s nothing fancy, we already have the building plans with structural engineer stamp that the city have approved last year but the city required someone with building permits to stand by the construction. I think the Wat committee will meet again to see what work the temple can do themselves. I know my family part is painting, something we did before for the temple.
Love all the shots, but for some reason am totally drawn to the persimmon shot. I guess it’s because I am a foodie. Lee is looking so much older lately. She’s very beautiful! 🙂
Thanks Geni, children are growing a lot faster these days. The temple has over 200 persimmon trees and it’s really a sight when they are ready for harvest.
The photos are very colorful. The statues, the clothing… but I am drawn to the greenness of the young persimmon.
I’m sure harvest time would be a sight to see. I hope you get to join the harvest this year. 🙂
Cambree, my next visit to the temple they might not be ready to harvest, but I hope to have a taste test. 🙂
[…] 12th marked the end of the three month rains retreat, and last Sunday we celebrated Ok Punsa or the end of Buddhist Lent Day at our local temple Wat […]